College Graduate

I have finally completed my Associates Degree in Accounting. I cannot believe it as it seemed like it would take forever. I started back in the fall of 2006 and have worked extremely hard on this. Obtaining a degree is something that was very important to me and still is. I am such an advocate for education and believe that everyone can benefit from increasing their knowledge. I have benefited in so many ways from going through this experience.


First off, I learned that I had to be disciplined taking online courses. I did not have a set time or place that I had to be in class, so I had to make sure that I set aside time for my classes.


Second, my children have learned what doing homework is. They got so used to seeing me working on the computer that even now they will say "Are you doing homework tonight?". I have to keep reminding them that I am done with school (for now). I am glad that I was an example to my children and that they understand that homework must be done to excel in school.


Third, I am now better prepared to support my family if the need would ever arise. I wanted to make sure that if for some unseen reason Dusty was gone, that I would be able to support me and the children.


Fourth, obtaining my degree has allowed me to move up at work. I went to work temporarily with the purpose of using the money to pay off old debt so that we could buy a home. Since I have been able to move up at work the "drop dead" date for this goal has moved up. There are so many other benefits from obtaining my degree that I cannot list them all.

I just want to say THANK YOU to my husband for putting up with me while I have plunged through my studies. He helped me a ton in the beginning as I got used to the new environment and has been a huge support to me. I could not have done this without him.

What's next? you ask...well I am taking a much needed break doing things such as blogging and being with my kids. I am seriously considering continuing my education and obtaining my Bachelor Degree via online classes. Learning can be kind of addicting as I want to keep learning more and more. So when I make my final decision I will let you know. But for now, I am going to enjoy my favorite season of the year with my family!!

Ear Piercing

Our girls have taken the huge step of getting their ears pierced. One weekend we needed to get away, so we headed to Ft. Collins, Colorado for a little time away. I had been talking about taking the girls on a "girls trip" to go get their ears pierced and be pampered. So we decided this was the perfect time.

Anyone who knows Alexis knows that she has a hard time with pain of any kind. She is also very apprehensive and has a lot of anxiety about things like this. So we decided to have Emma go first. I held her on my lap and they pierced her ears at the same time. She seemed more shocked that anything and cried for about a minute. After cuddling with Dad and looking at her new flower earrings in the mirror she was good-to-go.

Lex went next, but I also had to hold her on my lap. She picked the October birthstone because she liked the color (light pink). She was pretty shaky as they got ready to do it, but once they were done she was fine too. I don't think it is something she wants to do ever again, but she is glad that she has her ears pierced. Now I just have to fight with her to clean them (you have to twist them and clean them for 6 weeks and every time I try she thinks I am going to hurt her).

Below are both girls posing with their new earrings...

Aren't they beautiful?? We think so.

FIRE!!

We have learned a very important lesson in our family...gas cans and lighters DO NOT make a good combination. I know, you are thinking, well duh!!! So let me tell you what happened.

We bought one of those neat fire pits from Cabela's that you burn your fire wood in. So one Sunday night we had decided to have tinfoil dinners and cook them over the fire. I was inside cutting up the veggies for our dinner and Dusty had gone out to start the fire. Well, we started a fire...a BIG one. Dusty had poured gasoline on the fire pit and had then lit the wood with a lighter to start it. He though it had not lit and started to pour more gasoline on the wood. What he couldn't see was that the fire had already begun and before he knew it the gas can and gasoline inside of it caught on fire. I had no idea until I casually looked out the back window and saw flames as high as the power lines shooting everywhere. Dusty was standing there with the hose trying to contain it. With the wind, the flames were getting near Emma, so I ran outside and grabbed Emma from off the trampoline where she was frozen.

I yelled for Lex and Jake to grab the hose from the front and Dusty and I sat there and tried to get the flames to die down. Since the wind was blowing so much, every time we thought we were getting it to go out, the wind would make it pick up again. Dusty was trying to keep the flames from the garage so that we didn't have a bonfire start and I was trying to keep the flames from the grass. I finally called the fire department and we continued to stand there feeling like idiots. While we were waiting for them to arrive, Dusty got some dirt from the garden and smothered the flames (why didn't we think of that sooner??).

When the fire department finally arrived the chief was furious with Dusty. I was mortified about the entire situation and the fact that my husband had actually pulled off something like this. In the end, we learned a very good lesson; our gas can is now only used for the lawn mower, we have had extensive conversations with our children about what to do in case of fire and we now make brownies for the volunteer fire department regularly.

Our situation could have been a whole lot worse. Fire is nothing to joke around with. Follow the safety rules that have been set in place for us all. I highly recommend taking a tour of your local fire department as they will educate you and can show you pictures of exactly what happens when you play with or are careless with materials that can start fires.

And now a few pictures of our eventful Sunday night...

This is the gas can smothered with dirt. Notice the black grass on the right.

Happy Birthday Emma!!!

Miss Emma has turned 4 years old. I am filled with mixed emotions as I think back to when she entered this world.

I can remember it like yesterday. I was not doing well. The doctor had put me on bed rest and had been running tests on me. I had sugar in my urine, I was swollen like an elephant (no joke...Dusty said I had "elephantitis"), I couldn't breathe, my blood pressure was extremely high and I had a 4 year old and a 2 year old at home. The doctor had told me that he wanted to get me as far along as I could but to be prepared he gave me steroid shots for the baby's lungs. He told me that the last symptom of my condition would be my liver failing. When your liver fails you are at risk of having seizures, and if that happens the baby gets no oxygen.

Basically, my body was shutting down as a result of the pregnancy. The technical term was pregnancy-induced hypertension. Well, let me tell you, you know when your liver starts failing. It was the MOST painful thing I have ever been through. So we rushed to Alta View Hospital in Sandy, Utah. As we entered the office around 9 PM the nurse who had been running my tests saw me and immediately rushed me in to a room.

After that it was a whirlwind. They were shoving tubes down me and i.v.'s in me. They immediately called for a helicopter to "life-flight" me to LDS hospital. I was only 30 weeks along and they could not support a baby born that premature. The helicopter would only hold me on the stretcher and the technician. So, my sweet husband sat in the parking lot and waited until we lifted off and followed us all the way to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT. I was in a lot of pain and the technician finally offered me some pain medication. I was able to calm down a little and remember the helicopter circling the Salt Lake Temple over and over. There was another helicopter on the landing and we had to wait for them to move so that we could land, so since the hospital is very close to the temple they circled around in the air until we could land. Seeing that temple was one of the most comforting things to me.

After we landed I was rushed to a room to be monitored. My pain had increased significantly and I had started to vomit. I was begging for more medicine, but could have no more without hurting the baby. Finally, the decision was made to deliver the baby via emergency c-section. On September 3, 2004, Emma Beth Burke was born weighing 2 pounds, 3 ounces. I was so sick that I did not see her. I was taken back to a room where they discovered that I had pneumonia and fluid in my lungs (hence the reason I could not breathe). My blood pressure was through the roof so they put me on medicine which made me very loopy and tired. I also hemorrhaged and had to have blood transfusions.

Emma lived in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for 2 months. I visited her every day and in the end was visiting her 3 times a day to feed her. After this experience our doctors told us we should not have more children as what happened to us would only happen again but earlier in the pregnancy each time. We were told we were very lucky to have had Alexis and Jacob without any problems.

So I have mixed emotions because my 'baby' is not a baby anymore. But I am so happy to see her thriving and happy and alive. She has been called a "mini Sherrie" and has a personality of a princess. Emma is a spit-fire (I think she had to be from the very beginning of her existence on this earth). Her little feet still have the scars from being poked daily when she was born and are a constant reminder to me of how lucky I am to have her. Dusty and I are truly blessed to have been given the privilege to be her parents. She is the last addition to our family and we love her with all our hearts.

This picture is of Emma in her incubator. The 2 circular openings are what you would put your arm through to touch her.

This next picture is of me changing her diaper. Notice how big my hands look compared to her foot. Her head is a little bigger than the pacifier in the bottom right corner.

This is one of me and Emma cuddling. This is called "kangaroo care'. It is therapeutic for premature babies to be held against their mother's skin. The big cotton ball on her head is actually where her i.v. is. Premature babies veins go bad so quickly that they have to change them every day or so. Every time I came in she had a different spot on her where they had poked her. The i.v. was huge compared to her head and was probably one of the harder things for me to get used to.

And here she is in her blessing dress at about 6 months old.

A busy little 2 year old...

This is Emma at age 3...

And now it is 2008 and she is a big 4 year old that goes to preschool and runs around the house in her princess dresses.

We love you Emma!!!

Slacker...

So I know I have been slacking off on keeing my blog updated. There is a good reason though...we have been extremely busy. So I am catching up on posts this weekend. Just a hint of posts to come:

Happy Birthday Emma!!

FIRE!!

Ear Piercing

College Graduate

New Calling for me...

So don't give up on me. I will work dilligently this weekend in between Conference Sessions to get the blog updated.

Camp Clark Raiders Rendezvous - September '08

We spent Labor Day at the Camp Clark Raiders Mountain Man Rendezvous. Our family attended the Rendezvous held over Memorial Day and we really enjoyed ourselves. So we packed up our stuff and headed up to Courthouse Rock and Jail Rock for some more camping.

Since the last rendezvous Dusty has been working faithfully on his "garb" for this event. He made himself leather buckskin pants and moccasins, I sewed him a shirt (thank you Jeremee for all of your help!), and we added a hat and a new "mountain man" was created. I think he looked really handsome!!

Dusty headed up early to camp, but I had to wait until Saturday to go up. So the kids and I arrived on Saturday morning and were immediately drawn in to the activities. I started off doing the 'Women's Shoot' and did horrible. I was so frustrated with myself. I get myself psyched out when all of those seasoned men are watching me shoot and I just lose it. So I got only one shot. I told Dusty that he and I need to go up and practice alone so that I can feel more comfortable next rendezvous.

Dusty and I also ran the kids shoot that day. We bought watermelon and cantaloupe and tied them up for the kids to shoot at. It was a little unnerving running our first shoot but I think everything turned out o.k. Emma was so tired that she ended up falling asleep on a stranger's lap. Though, when you are at rendezvous everyone looks out for everyone's children. I got really tired too and took a nap. The temperature got really hot while we were there and I think I may have had heat exhaustion, because I was pretty darn tuckered out.

That night we did the potluck meal; the club provides the meat and then everyone brings a dish to share. We had some really great bbq pork with lots of yummy salads and treats. After that, we headed back to the camp and lit a fire and took it easy.

The next day, Sunday, proved to be just as hot as Saturday. In fact, it was so hot that we ended up going for a drive. We headed East and drove to Crescent Lake, near Oshkosh, Nebraska. I took a shot at trying to take some photographs of the scenery.

After that we headed back to camp, ate dinner, and got ready for the raffle that night. When you come to the rendezvous they ask you to donate prizes for the raffle. When the raffle comes you can buy kids tickets, men's tickets, women's tickets, or grand prize tickets with all money going towards the club. We all ended up winning something; Jake and Emma got insulated lunch boxes, Lex got a camping chair/stool, I got some fall pot holders and towels, and Dusty got a new knife set. I also stopped at the 'Trader's Tent' and the lady was selling her daughter's old rendezvous/pioneer dresses and they just happened to be Alexis and Emma's sizes. I bought both dresses for $10 and the girls were so excited to put them on.

Sunday night turned out to be super hot! We stayed up pretty late waiting for it to cool down before we went in the tent. We had finally fallen asleep and woke up to a flat air mattress and rain. Needless to say, we didn't really sleep much so when Monday came we were ready to go home. We packed up everything and made it home about 11 AM. I think I had about 10 loads of laundry to do with all of the blankets, camp clothes, and other home laundry. We got everything unpacked, everyone showered (boy did we stink!), ate lunch, and then I told everyone that I was taking a nap. I love napping!!!

We became members of the Camp Clark Raiders Club just last month. Before we were able to become members we were required to help with 'work days' (cleaning the property), running shoots (they have monthly shoots), and to basically prove that we were willing to be active members of the group. Now that we are we are able to have access to the land and will be able to go up and practice our target shooting at the range.

I am so excited to start working on outfits for me and the girls. I am hoping to have them done for Christmas presents. When I say outfits I mean "period" clothing or as I call it "Pioneer" clothing. I also want to make me a leather dress too. We will only wear them at rendezvous, which are Memorial Day and Labor Day. I have a huge list of camping items I want to get before next year too. I have to say that we really enjoy going to these activities and have a lot of fun as a family. Our friend Jeff, invited us to these activities and we are so glad that he did. I would have never known that I would like something like this, but I do! We all do!!

Visit my 'Burke Family Pictures' link to see all the photos from Rendezvous.

Dusty

The culprit behind Dusty's mysterious cough has been identified, hopefully. Dusty currently takes a long list of medications for his health problems, one of which is 'enalapril'. Enalapril is used to treat high blood pressure and is commonly given to patients with diabetes because it can improve survival after a heart attack. This medicine also has a side effect of producing a persistent cough. Our Doctor here in Sidney took Dusty off of it "just to be safe" when we discovered he had the bronchitis again. Wouldn't you know that his cough went away a couple days before we went to the specialist. When we told the specialist this he said he was almost certain that this medicine was the cause as he has seen many patients that happens to. So we left the clinic with samples of a different blood pressure medicine; he said that the only side effect of this medicine is 'poverty'. We will be asking for samples of this one! The good news is that there is nothing seriously wrong and the Doctor said that if the cough develops again to call and get in to see him when he comes to Sidney. We just need to keep managing his diabetes and working on loosing weight. Our advice to everyone is to watch what you eat, exercise, and be aware of your current health situation. Diabetes is not fun. It is extremely dangerous and causes many other problems. So get on your treadmills, drink water, watch your portions, and take care of your bodies. We love you Dusty and are glad that you are o.k.

P.S. Since the doc said that Dusty was fine we headed up to the 'Mountain Man Rendezvous' for Labor Day. We had a great time and I will be posting the pictures of Dusty in his leather soon.